Potential candidates are starting to come forward for the upcoming municipal election in May, but there are reasons why they choose to run locally as opposed to at the federal or provincial levels.
“The path to municipal politics is much different, because there are no political parties active at the municipal levels, like at the federal and provincial levels,” according to J.P Lewis, Associate Political Science Professor at University of New Brunswick Saint John.
He says if you decide to run, you don’t necessarily have to have all of the connections to get involved.
“We may see more candidates who don’t have as much of a political background, maybe their public service is in different forms that have nothing to do with partisanship,” he said.
In becoming a municipal candidate, Lewis says it’s important to become connected to you community.
“You’re dealing with very local issues. It is local government and you’re dealing with issues that could be happening right in your own backyard. They are much more personal and much closer to where the politician lives,” he said.
Voters will head to the polls on May 11th.
